RD: The Last Day
The Last Day is the sixth and final episode in Series III of Red Dwarf. It is the eighteenth episode overall. Overview Dave Lister receives a pre-recorded message from Jim Reaper, head of sales at DivaDroid International, the company that created Kryten. Kryten is ordered to be dismantled within twenty-four hours and is to be replaced by Hudzen-10, a super-strong android who has been tracking Kryten for millions of years and is now on an intercept course with Red Dwarf. The crew decide to throw Kryten a leaving party and give him one last night to remember. Summary One morning in the Officer's Quarters aboard Red Dwarf, Lister is left exasperated by Kryten serving him breakfast since he doesn't believe the droid should be forced to wait on him. Kryten then throws it in the bin, however Lister realises how delicious it is and retrieves it from the bin, stuffing it into his hat when Kryten suddenly reappears with news. Kryten then explains that a post pod has arrived with only one delivery. It is from DivaDroid International, manufacturers of Kryten and the 4000 series of mechanoids. Jim Reaper, head of sales, announces that Kryten's built-in expiry date is almost up and his in-built shut-down chip will automatically activate in twenty-four hours time. Kryten resigns himself to his fate, telling Lister he's going to get his reward in "Silicon Heaven", the electronic, pre-programmed belief system to keep AIs in-line. Lister tries to tell him there's no such place, to no avail. Lister is sickened that Kryten is going to be forced to turn himself off just to make way for the next model and has been forced to believe in Silicon Heaven just so he doesn't cause a fuss, and becomes determined Kryten's going to enjoy his last day in a profitless and non-practical way. He even goes to the trouble of building Olaf Petersen's old robotic Marilyn Monroe kit, that's been hanging around the ship for years, whilst Holly knocks up a special android home brew using Vimto and liquid nitrogen. The crew throw a going away party in the old Officer's Club for Kryten where they give him gifts, get drunk and exchange deeply personal stories. This includes Rimmer telling Lister that he was probably the unwanted result of incest, since Lister was found in a box under a pool table in a public house - the first mention in the broadcast series of the Aigburth Arms. Rimmer also tells an embarrassing story about his uncle Frank. Waking the next morning with a hangover, Kryten realises that he had experienced true pleasure for the first time and decides that he'd much rather delay his departure. He can override his shutdown programme easily, but explains that he is supposed to shut down to make way for his replacement, a later model mechanoid which comes fitted with instructions to kill its predecessor if necessary. But Lister, Rimmer and Cat won't let him on board. They're going to protect their shipmate, safe in the knowledge that mechanoids are programmed not to hurt humans. The replacement mechanoid Hudzen-10's ship lands on the landing gantry, and the crew prepare for his appearance. Lister tells Hudzen that Kryten is staying put and that he should leave. Hudzen refuses to go away and advances down the corridor proving to be dangerously insane thanks to millions of years on own, as he decides Rimmer and Cat don't count as human, and Lister barely qualifies Hudzen decides to just kill them all anyway. Just as Hudzen is finally upon Kryten and about to deliver a killing blow, he is told by Kryten that Silicon Heaven doesn't exist. Hudzen's mind can't cope with this revelation and shuts down. Lister quizzes Kryten about why Hudzen's mind (a later model) has difficulty with the concept, whilst Kryten's doesn't. Kryten replies that he was lying. Guest Stars * Gordon Kennedy as Hudzen-10. * Julie Higginson as the Marilyn Monroe kit android. Deleted Scenes Available on the Series III DVD: * Two extended dialogues further indulge the sadness of Kryten's imminent departure and talk of Silicon Heaven. * A worrying discussion of just how close Olaf Petersen was to his Marilyn Monroe droid that Lister is intending on assembling and giving to Kryten as his "going away" present. Lister says that Petersen only ever used one part - the 'hand-warming thermostat'. Cat asks to see her ass, and Lister says that it is in the fridge setting like a jelly. Cat admits he is "a sad and lonely guy." * An image of Holly, drunk like the rest of them at the end of the party, wobbles, flattens and goes psychedelic colours. The effect was considered weak and so not included in the aired broadcast. * The morning after the party, Rimmer shows just how willing he is to stand by his friends. That is, not at all, since he is terrified of going up against Hudzen-10 like the yellow-belly he is. Trivia * The first mention of the Aigburth Arms in the broadcast series is in this episode; this location would have much significance for the character of Dave Lister. * Kryten has no trouble lying to Hudzen-10 about Silicon Heaven, but he has to be coaxed by Lister in the next episode to be able to lie to his fellow shipmates. Perhaps he had no problems lying to fellow mechanicals, but couldn't lie to humanoids or holograms. * This is the first episode where one of the Skutters' names is known ("Bob"). * This is the first episode where we see the human face of Robert Llewellyn. He played Kryten and also played Jim Reaper. * Rimmer refers to a story with his mother, his uncle Frank and Frank's two daughters. Not realizing that he is talking about his first cousins (i.e. Frank's daughters), he says that one fancied him. * Rimmer Quotes 1 Corinthians 13:13 incorrectly, according to his family "the greatest of these is hop (e)" but the actual quote is "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Although the bible he was quoting was known for its errors. * In the DivaDroid manual that Lister reads, Kryten is noted to be a "Series Three" mechanoid. However later episodes would establish Kryten as a "Series 4000" mechanoid instead. Given the existence of other versions of the Series 4000, such as Able, it possible that Kryten is a Series 4000, MK. or model III. ** This is seemingly confirmed in the Series XII episode "Siliconia", in which Kryten meets dozens of other Mk. 3 Series 4000s (the MILFs) aboard the SS Vespasian, and it is heavily implied that Kryten is one too. The older Mk. 2s are kept below decks to work as grunts. Background Information * After Kryten's drunken leaving party, an external shot of Red Dwarf is shown right before the crew wake up with their hangovers. The music playing during the Red Dwarf flyby is "Morning Mood" by Edvard Grieg (1875). * Gordon Kennedy almost didn't appear in Red Dwarf as the character of Hudzen 10 was actually a last-minute addition to the script. Robert Llewellyn makes a brief, unmasked, appearance as Jim Reaper, the Diva-Droid executive and Julie Higginson plays the Marilyn Monroe kit android. * Rimmer's experience with the Samaritans would later be almost exactly mirrored by Gordon Brittas (also played by Chris Barrie in The Brittas Empire) who was revealed to have also spent time working for the organisation's helpline and caused four people, rather than Rimmer's five, to commit suicide (and, like Rimmer, one of those had called the wrong number). Red Dwarf Remastered This episode was one of the episodes remastered in 1998, as was the first three series. Several changes were made, such as the opening shot of the post pod approaching Red Dwarf being replaced with a CGI sequence. Hudzen's ship approaching Red Dwarf has also been replaced with a CGI version. There is also a Red Dwarf flyby of a moon, when the crew are first waking up from their hangover, instead of empty space. Noteworthy Dialogue *'Kryten:' Oh, boxing. Do you like boxing? Lister: There's nothing wrong with boxing. It's one of the great working class escapes, is boxing. It's just sport, like any other. Two highly trained athletes at the peak of physical perfection trying to outwit each other in a ring of combat. In fact, at it's best, it's not a sport -- it's an artform. Kryten: Female, topless boxing? Lister: Talk to me, Kryten. Kryten: Well... they're not even hitting one another. They just appear to be standing in the centre of the ring and jiggling up and down. So which one are you rooting for, sir? Lister: I'm just praying that it goes the distance! *'Lister:' We're on a mining ship, three million years into Deep Space. Can someone explain to me where the smeg I got this traffic cone? *'Kryten:' He's an android. His brain could not handle the concept of there being no silicon heaven. Lister: So how come your's can? Kryten: Because I knew something he didn't. Lister: What? Kryten: I knew that I was lying. Seriously, sir. "No silicon heaven"? Where would all of the calculators go?" Reception The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 19 December 1989 in the 9:00pm evening time slot. Although the episode gained a decent amount of viewers, the episode has been considered to be the weakest from Series III. However, it has been described as "terrific performances all around and one brilliant set piece after another" by 'Reviews by Gavrielle'. References Category:Episodes Category:Series III Episodes